November 2020 – Below the Line

Annual Colorist Mixer for December 12 Announces Line-Up

November 30, 2020 Staff Comments Off

The annual Colorist Mixer, organized by the Colorist Society International (CSI) and the International Colorist Academy (iColorist) has announced the line-up for its 24-hour online event. It will include talks and presentations from some of the world’s top colorists, technology companies and post-production leaders. It will also include a Party Zone featuring prizes, games and break-out rooms. The mixer’s opening remarks will be an informal chat between CSI president Kevin Shaw and Colorists Warren Eagles […]

Creative Solutions Teams with Still Rolling Initiative to Support COVID-Affected Filmmakers

November 30, 2020 Staff Comments Off

COVID-19 has been tough on everyone in every field, and while first responders and essential workers are clearly at the forefront of keeping things going during the current pandemic, there’s little denying that COVID-19 has adversely affected almost everyone in the film and television business and particularly crew. That’s why it was wonderful to read that equipment designer and manufacturer Creative Solutions (CS) was doing something about it, teaming with the non-profit Still […]

Over the Weekend 11/20/20: L.A. Production Continues Through Tighter Protocols, Ron Howard Plans Thirteen Lives Shoot and More

November 30, 2020 Edward Douglas Comments Off

Welcome back from the extended Thanksgiving weekend where we hope everyone was able to see their families and remain safe, as COVID-19 levels continued to spike across the entire country including New York. Presumably, many productions took some time off last week, although the worries of production being halted may have caused some to rethink going home instead of staying in place in the various production bubbles that have been […]

DoPchoice Offers Light Directing Tools for Rotolight Titan XI and Velvet Kosmos

November 28, 2020 Staff Comments Off

DoPchoice is offering a new line of tools to provide new ways to use its light shaping and directing accessories with popular newer LED lights like the Rotolight Titan X1 and Velvet Kosmos fixtures. First up is a lightweight dedicated Snapbag softbox for the Rotolight Titan X1 that mounts directly to the fixture tool-free — it’s contained in a matching carry bag from which it can easily be slid out from for use. […]

Rising Sun Pictures Training Program Provides Mike Ring with New Career

November 27, 2020 Staff Comments Off

Australian FX house Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) has shared one of the success stories from their 12-week intensive visual effects training program, Adelaide native Mike Ring, who left his good job at a financial services firm in Melbourne six years ago to go back to school. Ring was looking for something more creative to do, so after earning a degree in design, animation and interactive media from RMIT University, he took RSP’s Graduate Certificate in […]

Crafts Spotlight: Hillbilly Elegy Makeup Team Eryn Krueger Mekash & Matthew Mungle

November 27, 2020 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Based on J.D. Vance’s best-selling novel of the same name, Netflix’s upcoming The Hillbilly Elegy focuses on the author’s trip down childhood memory lane while juggling a present-day high-stakes job interview and his mother’s drug relapse. The film stars Amy Adams as Vance’s mother Bev, and Glenn Close as his grandmother Mawmaw. Despite weak reviews, could this be the vehicle to finally deliver either star a long-sought Academy Award? It seems unlikely […]

The Filmmakers Behind DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age

November 25, 2020 Edward Douglas Comments Off

Things have been relatively quiet for DreamWorks Animation (DWA) in recent years, as it adapted to its post-Jeffrey Katzenberg status under new owner Universal Pictures. Last year, it released the conclusion of its popular trilogy, How to Train Your Dragon: The New World, which became a decent global hit, though its follow-up Abominable – the new DWA’s first original movie not based on pre-existing source material – didn’t quite connect as well. […]

Dick Pope Chooses Cooke Panchro/i Classic Lenses for Supernova

November 25, 2020 Staff Comments Off

To film the upcoming drama Supernova, two-time Oscar-nominated Cinematographer Dick Pope, BSC (The Illusionist) decided to use Cooke Optics‘ Cooke Panchro/i Classic Prime lenses. Written and directed by Harry Macqueen, the film stars Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci as Sam and Tusker, 20-year partners who go on a road trip across England to visit friends, family, and places from their past. Tusker was diagnosed with early-onset dementia two years ago, so their time together is the most important thing they […]

Filmmaker Spotlight: Mosul Director Matthew Michael Carnahan

November 25, 2020 Daniel Eagan Comments Off

A SWAT team combs war-torn city streets looking for ISIS fighters in Mosul, streaming on Netflix starting November 26. Based on a true story, and starring an all-Arab cast led by Suhail Dabbach and Adam Bessa, the film unfolds over a single day of relentless firefights and sniper attacks. It’s the directing debut for screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan (World War Z), and Anthony and Joe Russo (The Avengers) are among […]

Public Health Experts Deem Golf Channel’s COVID Safety Protocols to be Inadequate

November 25, 2020 Staff Comments Off

Following up on a story from last week, a team of epidemiologists have reviewed the Golf Channel‘s COVID safety protocols and raised a number of concerns about them. The team includes Dr. Gregory Wagner of Harvard’s T.H Chan School of Public Health, Dr. Letitia Davis, formerly with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Dr. David H. Wegman of University of Massachusetts Lowell. Their concerns involve the channel’s failure to address parts […]